Welcome to yet another chapter my darlings
Enjoy yourself
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The dream started peacefully.
Alex was back in Kollam.
The morning sun was filtering through the curtains of his bedroom, casting warm, dusty beams of light onto his bookshelf.
He could hear the familiar sounds of the street outside,the distant honk of an auto-rickshaw, the calling of a vegetable vendor.
He was sitting at the dining table.
His mother was in the kitchen, her back to him, the smell of steaming Puttu and Kadala curry filling the air.
"Here you go, mone," she said, turning around to place a plate in front of him.
Alex smiled, picking up a piece of the steamed rice cake.
"Thanks, ma."
He took a bite.
It crunched.
Not the soft crumble of rice, but a wet, sickening snap.
Like bone.
Alex froze.
The taste in his mouth wasn't coconut and curry.
It was warm, metallic copper.
He looked down at his plate.
It wasn't food.
It was a human finger, pale and severed, resting in a pool of dark blood.
"Eat up," his mother said.
Her voice was distorted, metallic.
Alex looked up.
Her face was gone.
In its place was the smooth, synthetic skin of the mask he was wearing.
He looked to his side.
Sitting in the chair next to him was the recruit....the boy with the acne scars.
He had a gaping hole in his chest. He was smiling, blood bubbling between his teeth.
"You took my ball," the dead boy whispered. "Give it back."
The boy reached out, his cold, dead fingers wrapping around Alex's throat.
"Give it back!"
GASPPP
Alex shot up, his head slamming into the low ceiling of the hollow log.
Thud
"Oww..."
He collapsed back onto the rotting wood, clutching his forehead.
His heart was hammering a frantic rhythm against his bruised ribs.
He was drenched in cold sweat, shivering violently despite the humidity of the jungle morning.
He squeezed his eyes shut, forcing his breathing to slow down.
Inhale for four, Hold for four, Exhale for four.
"It was a dream," he whispered, his voice trembling.
"Just a dream."
But the mask on his face felt heavier than before.
It felt like it was fused to his skin.
A soft snort came from near his feet.
Alex opened his eyes.
The Nidoran was awake.
It was sitting near the entrance of the log, ears twitching.
It looked at him with an expression that seemed to say, 'You're noisy.'
"Morning," Alex croaked.
He tried to sit up, and his body screamed. His ribs were a solid wall of ache.
His left wrist was swollen to the size of a mango, pulsing with a dull throb.
His uniform was stiff with dried mud and the brown, flaky remnants of... yesterday.
"Okay. Status check," Alex mumbled, trying to distract himself from the pain.
[ Identity: Ares ]
[ Status: Malnourished / Injured (Rib Fracture - Minor) ]
[ Points: 100 ]
He checked his pockets.
The half-eaten ration bar he had stolen from the dead boy was there.
It was squashed, but edible.
He broke it in half.
"Here," he said, tossing a piece to the Nidoran.
The purple rabbit didn't hesitate. It snatched the food and devoured it.
It didn't wag its tail.
It didn't cuddle.
It ate because it needed fuel.
Alex ate his half slowly.
It tasted like sawdust and vitamins.
"We have a problem," Alex said, swallowing the dry lump.
"I checked the watch.
There are no markets out here.
The Black Markets you see in the novels? They're in the cities....Saffron, Celadon. Here, we only have the Rocket Exchange."
He tapped the screen of his bulky watch.
[ Exchange System: Online ]
[ Current Location: Sector 4 (Wilds) ]
[ Nearest Outpost: 12km North ]
"We can trade pokemon parts for points at the Outpost," Alex explained, though he knew the Nidoran only understood the tone, not the words.
"Rattata tails, Pidgey feathers, Oddish leaves, That's our currency."
He looked at the small Pokémon.
"But to get parts, we have to kill things.
And right now, you're injured and I'm crippled."
The Nidoran stood up.
It shook its fur, sending droplets of water flying.
It looked at the entrance of the log, then back at Alex.. It growled low in its throat. Let's go.
Alex grabbed his knife.
"Right. No time for pity parties."
He crawled out of the log, wincing as the bright morning sunlight pierced the canopy. The jungle was steaming.
Mist rose from the ground, turning the forest into a sauna.
They moved slowly.
Alex led the way, knife in hand, checking every bush.
The Nidoran followed a few paces behind, limping slightly on its left leg, but its red eyes were scanning the undergrowth with predatory focus.
They needed an easy target.
A warm-up.
Ten minutes later, they found it.
A Rattata.
It was gnawing on a root near the base of a large fern.
It was purple, twitchy, and about the size of a terrier.
[ Pokémon: Rattata ]
[ Level: 3 ]
[ Aptitude: Black (Common) ]
[ Status: Unaware ]
"Level 3," Alex whispered. "Perfect."
He crouched down, signaling the Nidoran. He pointed at the rat.
"Go," he whispered. "Peck."
The Nidoran didn't need to be told twice.
It launched itself forward.
But here, the reality of the Hustle ability made itself known.
In Alex's mind, and in the games, an attack was a simple animation.
In reality, Hustle meant the Pokémon was overflowing with too much energy.
It was jittery, Over-eager.
The Nidoran didn't just run; it exploded forward with too much force.
It tried to slam its horn into the Rattata, but its momentum was wild.
The Rattata heard the twig snap.
It twitched.
Whoosh
The Nidoran missed.
It sailed past the Rattata, its horn carving a gouge into the mud. It tumbled, rolling awkwardly because of its bad leg.
"Shoot," Alex hissed.
The Rattata shrieked.
It didn't run.
It saw a clumsy opponent.
It lunged, its oversized incisors glowing white. Hyper Fang?
No, just a Bite..
Chomp
It sank its teeth into the Nidoran's shoulder.
"Nidoran!" Alex shouted.
The purple rabbit squealed in pain.
It thrashed, trying to shake the rat off.
The extra muscle mass from being a runt helped here.
It was stronger.
It threw the Rattata off, slamming it into a tree trunk.
The Rattata was dazed, but shaking it off.
The Nidoran scrambled up, eyes burning with rage.
It prepared to charge again.
Its muscles bunched.
It was going to do the exact same thing...blind fury.
"Stop!" Alex barked.
The command was sharp.
It cut through the Nidoran's red haze.
The Pokémon froze, trembling with the urge to attack.
"You're missing because you're rushing," Alex said, his mind racing.
"Hustle makes you strong, but it makes you blind.
Don't chase it."
The Rattata recovered.
It hissed, realizing this opponent was dangerous.
It prepared to jump.
"Wait," Alex said, holding up a hand.
"Let it come to you."
The Nidoran hesitated.
It wanted to charge.
Every instinct screamed charge.
But the human was standing still.
The Rattata leaped.
A straight line, an easy trajectory.
"Now!" Alex yelled.
"Left and Peck!"
The Nidoran dodged, not gracefully, but effectively.
It threw its weight to the side.
The Rattata sailed through the empty air where the Nidoran had been.
As the rat landed, exposed and off-balance, the Nidoran struck.
This time, it didn't rush.
It was point-blank range.
THWACK
The horn, glowing with Poison energy, drove into the Rattata's side.
The force was sickening.
Hustle activated.
The damage boost was real.
The Rattata didn't even squeak.
The impact cracked its ribs audibly.
It was thrown three meters away, hitting the ground with a wet thud.
It didn't move.
[ Enemy Defeated]
[ XP Gained ]
The Nidoran stood there, panting heavily. Purple venom dripped from its horn.
It looked at the dead rat, then at Alex.
Alex let out a breath, leaning against a tree. His heart was racing again.
"See?" Alex said, his voice shaky but proud. "Power is nothing without control.
You have too much power.
You have to aim first."
The Nidoran limped over to the Rattata.
It poked the corpse with its nose.
Dead.
It looked back at Alex and gave a short, sharp nod.
Trust Level Increased.
Alex walked over.
He knelt down beside the kill.
He had to do the dirty work now.
"Sorry, little guy," Alex muttered.
He took out his knife.
In the games, you just walked over loot. Here, you had to harvest it.
He cut off the long, curled tail of the Rattata. It was gruesome work.
The skin was tough, the cartilage thick.
He tried not to look at the dead eyes.
He bagged the tail in a large leaf and shoved it into his pocket.
"One tail," Alex said, wiping his bloody hands on the grass.
"Maybe worth... 5 points?
10 points?"
He looked at the Nidoran.
"We need about twenty of these if we want to buy a Potion for your leg."
The Nidoran looked at the dense jungle, then at its own injured leg.
It seemed to understand the math.
It turned and looked for the next target.
"Slow down," Alex said.
"We rest for five minutes.
Then we hunt."
He sat down in the dirt, ignoring the dampness seeping into his pants.
He watched the Nidoran cleaning its horn.
This was the grind.
It wasn't glamorous.
It wasn't a montage set to rock music.
It was blood, sweat, and calculating the value of a rat's tail while trying not to throw up your breakfast.
"Welcome to the pokemon world," Alex whispered.
Authors Note:-
Well that's chapter 7.
Hope you all enjoyed it .
You guys can give me suggestions of pokemons he could capture.
I will take a look at all those .
Support with power stones and collections
Reviews are welcome.🥺